Salesforce CRM Implementation Challenges: Before, During and After

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Salesforce may be the best tool that your business ever had, but if not implemented well, it won’t help you meet the anticipated business objectives. Sharing key CRM implementation challenges- before, during and after the project.

Though your business can flourish greatly after incorporating Salesforce, there are also a few challenges that you are bound to face in any CRM project. Here is a look at the kind of challenges that await before, during and after the CRM implementation process.

1. Salesforce implementation challenges before starting the project

The idea of aligning business processes by implementing CRM fascinates almost every business head. But that thought is invariably followed by this question:

‘How much does Salesforce CRM implementation really cost?’

The issue of implementation cost can be overwhelming enough for decision makers to ignore other key considerations before starting the project.

In absence of proper consultation, businesses estimate implementation costs based on licenses required. At Cymetrix Software, we believe that license should be purchased after analysis and design. But it’s common for companies to go the other way round- invest in licenses first and then on-board a Salesforce consultancy.

Other categories of cost usually overlooked at initial stage include customization like unique reporting features, data migration, integration with existing applications, user training and ongoing maintenance.

Selecting the right CRM implementation company

Success of SFDC implementation depends a lot on the Salesforce implementation company. Salesforce can function as a common platform for sales, marketing and customer service teams. If the implementation is not correct or the roll-out is bumpy, it has the potential of directly impacting your company’s operational efficiency.

A common challenge is deciding if you need to hire an implementation firm for initial deployment and then choosing the right Salesforce consultant best suited for the business. Some tips to choose a consultant are shared here.

Factoring for internal resource allocation

When implementing Salesforce CRM, roles needed on your team include project manager and administrator. But there’s more to it. Do the potential users of the software in your company know that their involvement will be critical for the success of this project? That’s because these power users fully know and understand the needs of your business. Without their input, it would be very difficult to map the existing business process to Salesforce correctly.

2. Challenges faced during Salesforce implementation

Dealing with data migration

Mapping of data from one system to another is one of the biggest challenges during developemnt. Dealing with unique ID mapping to duplicate data, adding custom fields to managing access control, challenges of data migration are no different in SFDC. And during the implementation phase, migration strategy has to be such that it doesn’t interfere with business as usual.

Integrating Salesforce with other systems

Salesforce CRM does not and is not supposed to exist in silo. The real benefit of Salesforce can be leveraged when it is integrated with other business applications in the organization. On-premise applications, mobile app, cloud apps – a typical business IT environment is disparate. Integrating with other applications is one of the most significant challenges which organization face during implementation.

Over-complicating the implementation

As far as CRM software go, Salesforce has possibly the largest arsenal of services designed to improve your business processes. But just because a feature is available, does not mean that you have to incorporate it into your business. Its not uncommon to end up with complicated implementations, customization built over previous customization. That that’s not a Salesforce issue, but the analyst’s challenge.

3. Challenges And Problems After CRM Implementation

Creating enthusiasm in team

Revolutionary technology that your team does not understand is as good as useless. To incorporate Salesforce and its wonders, data has to be recorded at every level of your organisation.

Maintaining centralized records

If your team is still using Excel sheets and smart phone reminders to achieve targets, your implementation has clearly not changed much. The main feature of Salesforce is to provide you with a *singular* platform on which you can track, moderate and execute all organisational processes.